Red Wings send Abdelkader back to Griffins

DETROIT -- Brad Stuart's injury has enabled the Detroit Red Wings to get a midseason look at some of their top prospects.

The team likes what it has seen in Ville Leino and Justin Abdelkader the past two games. Now they'll get a chance to see Darren Helm, who played well for the Red Wings in last year's postseason.

After Monday's 4-3 shootout victory against St. Louis, the Red Wings reassigned Abdelkader to the Grand Rapids Griffins. They will call up Helm prior to Wednesday's game against Phoenix.

"It was a really good experience," Abdelkader said. "They said I played really well and it's not because of my performance.

"They got to get other guys up. I'll go down and get better in Grand Rapids and go from there."

Abdelkader, who centered the third line with Dan Cleary and Jiri Hudler, forechecked well, drove to the net and provided Detroit with some energy.

He has 14 goals and 27 points in 44 games for the Griffins.

"He came in and started to score right away, which we didn't have expectations for," Red Wings assistant general manager Jim Nill said. "He's got pretty good touch around the net, gives us a little bit of a different element. He's got a little physical edge to him.

"Much like (Tomas) Holmstrom and (Johan) Franzen, he gives us that element of a big body (6-foot-1, 213 pounds) that goes to the net and is not afraid to hit."

Coach Mike Babcock said Abdelkader really impressed him with his time in Detroit.

"He's going to play on our team for a long, long time,'' Babcock said. "Still going to finish the rest of the year in (Grand Rapids) and going to battle for a job next year here. We got Helmer down there, (and) he's more than ready now that he's healthy."

Helm recently returned to Grand Rapids' lineup after recovering from a charley horse.

The Red Wings didn't have the salary-cap space to recall anybody earlier this season. Placing Stuart on long-term injured reserve created plenty of room.

Draper plays 1,000th game
Kris Draper received a standing ovation when public address announcer Budd Lynch acknowledged midway through the first period the Red Wings' center was playing in his 1,000th game.

He assisted on Kirk Maltby's goal in the second period.

"He's obviously been a real good pro, real committed, real team leader, real good person in the community, a big part of the fabric of Detroit and Michigan," Babcock said. "I'm thrilled for him."

Some of Draper's buddies from minor hockey and a few family members drove in from Toronto for the game.

"I'll never forget in '95 sitting with (former teammate) Dino Ciccarelli, he was just talking about how fast it goes," Draper said. "I'm a big fan of trying to work as hard as I can on the ice and doing whatever I can off the ice, too."

Draper has played 980 games as a Red Wing.

Maltby, who is 11 games from 1,000, said it will be much harder in the salary-cap era for a player to remain with one organization that long.

"To be able to play that many games in one uniform says a lot for him and the organization," Maltby said.

It was a good day for Draper. He and Cleary also won the team's Super Bowl pool after picking the Pittsburgh Steelers with the fifth pick prior to the NFL playoffs.

Lidstrom and Brian Rafalski chose the Arizona Cardinals.

"We were happy up until the last minute of the game," Lidstrom said.

Zetterberg hopes for Wednesday
Henrik Zetterberg skated with the team Monday morning. He expects to play Wednesday after sitting out three games with back spasms.

An MRI showed no damage. Zetterberg said it is not a disc issue and that he has been to a chiropractor a few times.

"It's never fun to be out, especially when the team is losing. You want to be in there, try to turn things around," Zetterberg said.

Odds and ends
• Tomas Holmstrom missed his second consecutive game with a strained groin. He was scheduled to undergo an MRI on Monday.

• Stuart's back/neck injury is similar to a compression fracture of the spine, general manager Ken Holland said. He also has a rib that has broken through cartilage. He is not eligible to come off long-term injured reserve until Feb. 15 against Colorado.